


Unchartered Waters

by albinococonut23



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-26
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2018-02-10 11:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2023818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/albinococonut23/pseuds/albinococonut23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"So that we won't get lost on this journey | We'll put up a sail for the two of us" - Arashi's Tokei Jikake no Umbrella</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unchartered Waters

 

The clouds dotting the sky turn pink as the darkness recedes and gold seeps up from below the horizon. The water is calm, small waves lapping against the sides of the crude but sturdy vessel drifting gently across the limitless expanse of sea. Kazu stares up at the sky, watching until the deep blue of night has completely disappeared, replaced by the color of pale robin’s eggs, and decorated by the odd puff of faded cotton candy.   
  
He’s surprisingly comfortable. Against his back, the floor of the boat is hard beneath the ragged blankets they’ve laid out. But it’s also reassuringly sturdy, and the other man’s warmth is a solid and constant presence to his left. The tumultuous churning of Kazu’s stomach disappeared after the first two nights, and now all he finds on the open water is a strange feeling of peace. The world seems infinite in all directions and it grounds him, though there is technically no ground directly beneath him at all.  
  
A human sigh from his left breaks the quiet sighing of the waves. Kazu turns his head to the side but Satoshi is still asleep. His face is tanned from long hours spent guiding their course under the sun while Kazu curled beneath a heavy blanket, adjusting to the stomach-turning rise and fall of waves. Now Satoshi’s features are relaxed and Kazu’s eyes follow the soft curl of his dark lashes, the strong line of his nose, the roundness of his cheeks, and the part of his lips. A breeze is blowing, fluttering the tattered red and blue banner above them and brushing strands of short brown hair across Satoshi’s forehead.   
  
Kazu bites down on a smile, his own dark hair being pushed in front of his eyes as he props himself up and reaches out to trail his fingers along Satoshi’s hairline, pushing the stray hair aside and lingering there as the other man tips his head towards his hand. Kazu’s fingers shift until his palm is pressed gently to Satoshi’s cheek, and he can compare the paleness of his skin to the rich color of Satoshi’s.  
  
“Your hand is warm.” Satoshi murmurs, voice thick with sleep. He turns his head again, as if to nuzzle into Kazu’s small palm and his eyes open a slight crack to peer drowsily up at the black haired man.  
  
“Your skin is cool.” Kazu responds, laying back down but not moving his hand. He has to snuggle closer to accommodate this, practically curling up on Satoshi’s side with his face pressed against Satoshi’s shoulder and almost into the crook of his neck, but that was probably the point. “I’m warming you up.”  
  
Satoshi is silent, breathing so deep and even that Kazu thinks he might have gone back to sleep until the older man shifts and an arm wraps firmly around Kazu’s middle before lips nudge and brush purposefully across his fingertips and then knuckles. “Thank you, Kazu.”  
  
Kazu thinks Satoshi isn’t just thanking him for being a human blanket, but he wriggles a little closer and doesn’t say anything.  
  
The sun rises higher into the sky, reflecting brilliantly off of the waves and spilling golden heat into the boat. The chill of the morning is gone entirely, but Satoshi still holds him close right up until they can bear it no more and both of them are beginning to stick to each other with sweat.  
  
“Where are we going Satoshi?” Kazu asks. He is sitting up amid the worn and rumpled blankets and munching on the last bite of a granola snack.  
  
Satoshi peers out from beneath the shield of his hand, searching the horizon for something Kazu can’t fathom. Kazu is more concerned with watching Satoshi’s figure lit up by the sun than he is with watching for a potential destination. “Where do you want to go, Kazu?” He turns and they make eye contact.  
  
Kazu thinks and then smiles. “Nowhere. Anywhere. Any place or no place is fine.” Satoshi looks confused, and Kazu laughs before attempting to elaborate. “As long—well, as long as it’s us, I don’t care where we go.” Satoshi’s smile is widening, and Kazu feels his ears burn –but it’s not from the heat of the sun. “As long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter to me…”  
  
Satoshi is strangely excited. He pulls a crumpled, scribbled over, map from deep in his back pocket and spreads it out on the floor between them. “Here, we can go to nowhere together!” He points to a blue section of the map where a green spot has been added in crayon.  
  
“Satoshi?...”  
  
“Just us, on an island nobody else knows exists.” Satoshi lifts his head, beaming with unbeatable enthusiasm into Kazu’s perplexed expression. Kazu can’t stay frowning for long, especially not after he says ‘okay’ and Satoshi kisses him with smiling lips. “Let’s go!”  
  
Together, they untie, pull, and tie ropes again, and the white material of their makeshift sail unfurls and billows as it catches the breeze and pushes them forward speedily. The sail’s shadow shelters them from the sweltering sun and the wind is refreshing as it whips their clothing about them and dries their damp skin. A laugh bubbles its way out of Kazu’s chest, swept away in the current of the air. His heart feels stuffed with happiness, the sun is impossibly bright on the water around them, and their speed is suddenly making him giddy. There still seems to be an endless expanse of empty sky and sea around them, but somewhere ahead is a little piece of nothing with their names on it, a definite destination to reach for and hold onto.  
  
The sweat at the small of his back has gone cold from the wind passing through his thin shirt and he shivers before jumping in slight surprise when Satoshi’s fingers twine tightly with his. He turns raised eyebrows on the brown haired man and sees goose bumps are dotting the dark skin of Satoshi’s arm as well. Kazu still can’t stop smiling. “Is my hand still warm?”  
  
Satoshi turns away from the approaching horizon to face him and steps closer when Kazu turns to face him too. “You’re always warm.” He says, so low his words are almost left behind them before Kazu hears. Kazu is glad the wind is pushing his hair into his face and hiding his blush, but Satoshi reaches out to push it aside and cup his jaw, closing the gap between them swiftly and gently.  
  
It’s hard to kiss and fight down giddy laughter at the same time, but they manage.  
  



End file.
